Comments on: Head-butt

Head-butt

mfoight — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 05:58:53 -0800

Give me a Glasgow kiss! The OED's newest English words. Glasgow kiss, n. [ Glasgow, the name of a city in west central Scotland + KISS n., in humorous allusion to the reputation for violence accorded to some parts of the city. Cf. earlier Liverpool kiss s.v. LIVERPOOL n.] A head-butt.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 06:02:25 -0800

the liverpool kiss is explained in bryce courtenay's excellent novel of south africa, "the power of one".

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 06:21:08 -0800

See also previous quarterly OED updates here, here & here. To echo me3dia's comment on the latest of these: Do we really have to have a post every time the OED adds a couple of flash-in-the-pan words?

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 06:32:53 -0800

*headbutts mfoight, quonsar, misteraitch. cackles like Richard Widmark in Kiss Of Death*

By: josephtate

josephtate — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 07:04:46 -0800

I sort-of like hearing about these new words (but I do suppose one could check the OED site rather than mefi, as our colleagues imply above). I wonder, though, what prescriptivists make of the OED: "Omigod! 'Omigod' isn't a real word!"

By: misteraitch

misteraitch — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 07:18:40 -0800

Fuxache matteo, ma heid's nae hauf coupin'! Any mair ay yer cheek an' ye'll get a cuddy lug, ye wee bugger!

By: Mo Nickels

Mo Nickels — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 07:23:47 -0800

By the way, the North American office of the OED in New York City is hiring.

By: Shane

Shane — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 07:24:03 -0800

Hmph. And yet a "bang on the ear" can be a good thing.

By: Mo Nickels

Mo Nickels — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 07:27:17 -0800

Do we really have to have a post every time the OED adds a couple of flash-in-the-pan words? It's always funny to hear or read comments like that, since the OED is notoriously conservative and reluctant to admit new words without strong evidence, strong history, and good reason.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 07:49:22 -0800

Of no particular interest to anyone: a few years ago Yorkshireman disappeared from the OED. I dunno if it's there again or not now, but I posted a bit of a rant about it on some usenet forum which may or may not have involved the deaths of the entire OED editorial team and their first born. I possibly shouldn't have done that from my work account but I still keep the written warning I received with some measure of pride.

By: stuartmm

stuartmm — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 08:05:49 -0800

It is usually called a "Gorbals Kiss" To be specific to an area of Glasgow. :-)

By: johnnyboy

johnnyboy — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 09:04:46 -0800

And here was me thinking that it was a Govan kiss stuart.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 09:06:36 -0800

Anybody know what a "John Lennon" is? I don't have access to the online OED, alas. (I like the OED posts, but then I would, wouldn't I?)

By: me3dia

me3dia — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 09:53:32 -0800

MetaTalk.

By: Mo Nickels

Mo Nickels — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 09:57:57 -0800

Yorkshireman is still in the OED. John Lennon has not yet shown up in the online edition, but when it does it will be defined as, "attrib. Designating a pair of meta-framed spectaclesor sunglasses with small, round lenses, a type worn and popularized by John Lennon." Cites are from 1982, 1995, and 2000.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 10:35:02 -0800

Yorkshireman isn't a real word.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:07:21 -0800

He's a real Yorkshire man, sitting in his Yorkshire land, making all his Yorkshire plans for Yorkshire.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 11:40:32 -0800

"Glasgow Kiss?" How long until "Cleveland Steamer" is in there?

By: chicobangs

chicobangs — Thu, 10 Jun 2004 19:45:28 -0800

I'm waiting for "Blumpkin" and "Dirty Sanchez," myself. Until then, then it sure ain't definitive, is it? Still. I so want a copy of it, if only for word-nerd supremacy in my own house. (You down with OED? Yeah, you know me.)

By: biffa

biffa — Fri, 11 Jun 2004 03:51:22 -0800

Having a look at the attribs for Glasgow kiss, how do that actually decide what to use? They quote the execrable Is Harry on the Boat? from 1997, whilst it was clearly in use before that, just off the top of my head? For example, Carter USM used it in the song 'Sealed with a Glasgow Kiss' in 1995.